THE idiom “time heals all wounds” certainly does not work when it comes to sekuru Willard Masire, a Melfort Old People’s Home dweller.
Masire, who has been nursing heartbreak since 1992, was quick to share his story with journalists at the handover of a greenhouse to Melfort Old People’s Home by Delta Beverages on Thursday.
“She (my wife) left me, and I am finding it difficult to forget,” Masire said. “I still remember the year very well, 1992. My only crime was poverty.
“She said she could not take it anymore and she wanted me to pay her bride price and not to continue cohabiting.”
He was a cattle herder in Murewa then, quite close to his in-laws’ place.
“At first, I thought she was joking, but when days became months, I had to accept my fate.”
Masire vividly remembers a lot of things, despite his old age.
He was born on June 6, 1935.
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Three decades after losing his love, Masire is still in pain.
What makes it more difficult for him to bear is the fact that the couple had two children, whom he last saw on the day they left with their mother in 1992.
“I ask God why he is keeping me alive as I have no one to live for. It kills me inside when I think of how my children have grown to be and if they are married or living well,” he said.
Masire is of Malawian origin and has no close relative in the country and neither does he recall his Malawi origins, making him a loner.
Science-based theories and urban legends alike point to a variety of answers, with averages ranging between three to 18 months for one to heal from heartbreak.
This makes Masire’s case a bit out of the ordinary as he has nursed heartbreak for three decades.
However, regardless of the sad turn of events in his life as a result of love, Masire is very thankful for the shelter.
“Despite the fact that my wife left with our children, I find life here very comforting,” he said.
“They take good care of us here and I can give anything to remain here. They are doing a good job in helping us cope with how our lives have turned out to be.”
While speaking at the donation, Delta Beverages communications manager Patricia Murambinda said: “We hope the donation helps them regain all that was lost in the fire. Above all, we pray it gives them the therapy they derive from working in it.”
